Once More With Pictures

Dia de la Boca and the following food adventures, IN PHOTOS! Wheeeee!

 

Just to prove that we really do everything we say we do! ;)

Happy eating!

Summer Strawberry Soup, recipe

No joke, just a recipe this time. :)

~Summer Strawberry Soup~

1 pint/2 cups strawberries, chopped
1/3 Cup honey
2.5 Tb fruit vinegar
3 Cups whole milk plain yogurt
2 tsp sweet wine
1/4 tsp orange juice
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients & mix well. Store in the fridge and serve cold. Lasts forever, quite easy to double or triple the recipe without any trouble. Really, you can add as many strawberries as you want, although the recipe doesn't translate to blueberries very well, I've found. Can be used as a cold soup or your daily yogurt. I ate this every day for three months running a couple years ago.

Enjoy!
xoxoxo,
Kim & Emmy

ps, do you have any favorite cold soups? Let me know in the comments!

Dia De La Boca

So I finished work on Wednesday, running out of the office at high speed after probably the longest day I've had all year. On Thursday we decided it would be our Dia de la Boca, or, Day of the Mouth. We would go to all our favorite places and eat whatever we wanted to!

Food adventures, you guys. Frickin' food adventures.

First thing, we rumbled out to the Dumpling Haus, and I settled down to an enormous bowl of Wonton Soup (So salty!) while Emmy picked up another plate of Bao Mix.

Then, properly sated, we whisked ourselves over to Gail Ambrosias on the east side of Madison. We tried some Aztec chocolate and several flavors of sorbet (chocolate, mango, strawberry-rhubarb, & blood orange). We picked up the strawberry-rhubarb sorbet, a teeny little cup of it, as well as chocolate-covered marzipan and cherries.

Off again! Across the rolling hills of southern Wisconsin to Wollersheim Winery. They just debuted their White and Red Port this month! We tasted both. The white was high and sweet, the perfect before-dinner treat, while the red was deep, mellow, and quite brandy-ish, just right for after-dinner. We also got a wine-cheese spread and some crackers from the Co-op to go with.

At last we headed down to New Glarus, a town I have passed through but never visited. Now, before you get all excited, we weren't there to do a beer tasting. Emmy and I are, unfortunately, not really beer people. We are wine people. But, I digress. We arrived late at the New Glarus Hotel, and treated ourselves to a farewell dinner in the traditional Swiss style.
Swiss cheese and wine fondue, with several kinds of bread rolls for dunking. There was a salad bar for the picking and cream of split pea soup. The ham! The ham in the pea soup (I never thought I would love pea soup) was so delicious! Mmmmm!

As we left we saw a tiny little antique shop with beer steins and chicken butter dishes, but they were closed. Ah, well. What an adventure! Our mouths were so tuckered out from all the tasting, that we had to have ice cream (Zanzibar and Birthday Cake at the Sassy Cow) on Friday instead.

We plan to leave this coming week and swing by Niagara Falls on the way. Not to mention that we got a whole quart of home-fired maple syrup from Emmy's uncle to take back with us.

Goodbye Wisconsin! Goodbye, goodbye!
We love you!
We'll miss you!
Goodbye!
xoxoxo,
Kim & Emmy

Eating Back To Front

Boy, do I have adventures to tell you folks about! But first, recipes!

Who knew cabfage could be so yummy? A quick list of what we've been eating in the past month leading up to our grand exit from Wisconsin.

~Roasted Cabbage w/ Crisped Pancetta

~Sopa de Ajo (Spanish Garlic Soup)

~Garlic Stir-Fried Snap Peas

~Baked Chicken Breasts w/ Sage Shallot Apple Dressing
(We haven't had a chance to try this one yet.)

~Strawberry Soup


~Strawberry Muffins
mmmmmmmmmm


STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

2 Cups flour
1/3rd Cup white sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 Cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 lemon, zest of
4 Tb unsalted butter, melted
1.5 Cups chopped strawberries

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix until combined. Make a well in the center. Beat egg seperately and melt butter. Add to the dry mixture. Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Trust me on the yogurt. Add chopped up strawberries. Stir until combined, do not overmix.
Put batter evenly into muffin tin, bake 20-30 minutes, or until crowns have browned and feel firm when you tap them. Enjoy!

SUMMER STRAWBERRY SOUP

So, I went to find the recipe for this, and it turns out I have the cookbook with me. (We're on the road) But the problem, in looking at this recipe, is that I can easily see that I've changed it since taking it from the book three years ago. My recipe for this is on a card back at the apartment, so I'll have to report on this later. :)

Lots of love,
xoxoxo
Kim & Emmy
 

Ode de Fromagination!

So we had a couple more weeks of returning to Fromagination that I haven't had a chance to update until now. Yesterday was our last day, saying goodbye to Ken and Giselle, and all their little cheese mongers. We'll really miss them, as well as their cheeses. The list below is a compilation of several weeks' worth of visits.

~Cranberry Chipotle Cheddar
Fruity, lingering peppery bite.

~Good Thunder
Smokey, creamy, washed-rind taste.

~Chevre des Cremiers
Salty, creamy, light. Rolling over and over the tongue.

~Miette
Overall salty and a traveling lightness of flavor. So fresh it makes your heart skip a beat.

~Little Darlings
Smells like grass, sweating concrete. Sour cheddar taste.

~Marigold
Dry, crumbly, like a parmesean.

~Gravity Hill
Like a very mild cheddar, sort of dry. Very WI taste, deep in the back of the mouth.

~Mobay
Slight goaty, blend of goat & sheep. Tastes like unsalted butter. Dry ashyness with a creamy deepness.


We also had a local pork sausage: Soppressata (pork, red pepper flakes, thyme, garlic), deep and spicey. So good!

It was also time to use up our loyalty points, we had 175 Belly Points! (free rewards system) We got three Gail Ambrosias chocolates, one turkey and brie artisan sandwhich with cranberries, and a mini jar of cranberry preserves spread. So delicious! We also picked up one Saucission Sec sausage and 1/4th lb of Casa Bollo cheese, two of our favorites.

Goodbye Ken, goodbye Priscilla, goodbye Giselle and Gabe, goodbye everyone!

We'll miss you!
xoxoxo,
Kim & Emmy

Can I Have Some More?

It's official, I've eaten Madison out. I feel like I've set tips and empty plates down in every place that mattered in the past four years. That is, until these past two weeks rolled around.

~Chautara~
Wow! Finally fed up with the typical Olive Garden breadsticks and loads of heavy pasta, Emmy and I wracked our brains to come up with somewhere new and "foreign" that wasn't Indian food (we both have delicate tummies). Spicy and savory were my watchwords as I ran through a mental list of all the "foreign" food in town, most of it sub-par Chinese places and shady sushi bars.
"Indian food?" I kept asking Emmy as we drove.
She turned and grimaced at me.
"I know a place, it's not too bad. They've got mango ice cream!" Mango usually does the trick, but not this time.
"Anything but Indian, Kim, please."
"Alright." I tried thinking more, taking crazy turns. "Steak?"
"No..."
"Olive Garden?"
"But we were just there!"
Sigh. "I know."
We seemed doomed not to find anything--or think of anything--until a four-year-old memory jangled in the back of my head.

What about that place Dad took you and Kenny to, that night you all went to the Overture? You know, that Thai place on State Street?
But I didn't like it, I said to myself.
Well, responded my inner self, You weren't a food blogger then. You had no palate. You ate three cups of pasta per sitting and frozen pizza! You wouldn't have known good cuisine if it bit you in the ass.
You're right, I said.

We drove on. The stop at Chautara was welcomed by a lamp soup special sign. We grinned at each other and entered the tiny restaurant. Behold! Statues and house-hold gods everywhere, strewn with dimes and with many soft bills tucked into their creases. All the right smells greeted us, making our stomachs growl hard.
"It's a lion," I said, looking at the statue by the entrance.
"A boy lion," Emmy said, looking down at the statue's very--ahem--prominent endowment.
The hostess, a girl our own age, said we could sit anywhere. I asked if the upstairs was open, since I'd never seen it. She said yes, so we climbed the stairs, passing more gods on the way. The upstairs was open, with old creaking floorboards and lots of windows. And better, it was empty of people, with a swanky bar in the back by the restrooms. By the time we'd arrived they were out of the lamp soup, so I ordered Beef Korma and Emmy got the spicy Chicken Secuwa, with jasmine rice. We shared a side of dal (soup) and house salad with honey-poppyseed vinagrette (sp?).

I can't even tell you how good it all was, since I didn't have my notebook with me, but it was heavenly and perfectly proportioned. Go enjoy for yourself!

~Luigi's~

Last night we spent a good 45 minutes driving around town, yet again, looking for Umami, a Japanese place Emmy'd heard about. It's supposed to be on Williamson St, but in the dark we couldn't find it. After what seemed like ages and lots of twists and turns I looked over and said, "I like pizza." Emmy cooed, "I like pizza, too!"
"Let's do this!"
We sped around some more, nearly getting lost in an area of town I'm not very familiar with. Turns out Regent Street actually turns into Mineral Point Rd. When was Madison going to tell me about this? Craziness.
We rolled into Luigi's, again a place I'd visited sans fiancee more than a year ago and hadn't been back to since.
They were nearly closed but served us anyway, and it was probably the most delicious pizza I have ever had in my whole life.
Appetizer: Fonduta Classico, cheese fondue w/ pieces of prosciutto ham and spicy bits in, w/ bread for dipping.
Pizza: Chicken, basil pesto mixed with marinara sauce, onions, mozzerella and fresh goat cheese (Creamed Chevre, if my taste buds could get a guess) and I'm serious, this pizza was out-of-this-world good!

~DumplingHaus~
There's no excuse for this one, except they've always been busy. Just a little "asian food place" tucked away into the Hilldale Mall, a stone's throw from the Sundance Theater. I should have known better and tried them years ago. Just the right amount of food for just the right price, I've had their Pork & Veggie Wontons twice now and I know I'll be stopping in at least once more before we leave!

Wow, wow, wow! So many good places and so little time left! Not to mention iced mochas at Alterra, our determination to subscribe to Mother Earth News, and everything we're looking forward to in Portland.

Love, hugs, and good eating to everyone!
xoxoxo,
Kim & Emmy

Adventure Time!

So, last week we did this:

BRAT FEST, omg.

It was awesome. Like, this kind of awesome:

 

 

 

My brat's on the left, ketchup & onions. Emmy added ketchup, mustard, & relish of some type. Not sure what that green stuff is. But that's okay. And then, after the tacos two weeks ago we made an old favorite of mine:

 

Southern Sausage Stew BUT IT WAS CHILI THIS TIME.

 

 



Aw, yeah. Chili.

Southern Sausage Stew:
~1 large onion
~3 bell peppers, any color
~1 medium-sized hot pepper
~3 stalks celery/carrots
~4 cloves garlic
~5-6 sausages/brats
~few shakes of dried thyme
~cooking oil
~1 tsp paprika
~1 tsp cayenne pepper
~1 Tb balsamic vinegar
~14oz can diced tomatoes
~3 Cups broth

Chop veggies & set aside. Chop sausage & put in stew pot w/ oil at the bottom. Brown sausages & remove from pot, I use a slotted spatula for this, so I'm leaving all the oil/fat behind. Add veggies and cook then until tender/soft. Add meat, tomatoes, cover w/ stock, & add spices. Salt & pepper to taste. Let cook down until desired liquid level, but at least until warmed all the way through. Enjoy!

I once ate this every week for three months running. As you can probably tell from the photo I doubled the recipe last week so we'd have enough for the both of us. It worked, since we have some left over still. This is really good and can even be made w/ chicken.

A few more posts to go, this is a big update!
xoxoxo,
Kim & Emmy

A Cheesy Denouement

So it's been a while since I posted about cheese. I mean, a really long time.

But, don't worry about it, Fromagination had a whole host of new items in from France and Italy!
Ach, so much love!

~Pecorino Moliterno al Tartufo (Italy)
Sour, pungent, salty. Airy once you get past the strength of the truffles & the sheepiness.

~Gres Savarin Fromi w/ Cranberry (France)
Light, creamy, fresh and like cream cheese but less thick & sour. (we got this one)

~L'Ulivo (Italy)
Smooth, deep taste. Hint of lightness and very creamy, hint of olives.

~Navarre (France)
Rosemary, deep, like cottage cheese but long & slightly round taste.

~Comte Aop (France)
Gentle, like Alpine flowers, like eating clover, deep and sheepy, though it's a cow's cheese.

~Brebirousse D'Argental (France)
Creamy, a changing profile of flavors: light at first, moving to an under-over creaminess, and then to a distinct but gentle swish of sheepiness. (I'm getting this next time!)

So much to taste, so much to see! Eeeeee, we will visit every week until we leave.

We also picked up two specialty Jeni's ice creams:
~Black Coffee
and
~Red Raspberry frozen yogurt

I can't wait!
xoxoxo,
Kim & Emmy